Turtle Talk with Crush

The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Epcot

On
November 16, 2004, a new experience at the Living Seas opened called
"Turtle Talk with Crush." It features a computer-animated
version of the surfer dude turtle from "Finding Nemo" in 10-minute
conversations with visitors.

AllEarsNet.com friend CraigC writes: What used to be the "Atlas"
room is now an enclosed theater (much like the "Making of Me"
theater). The audience faces a screen that looks into the ocean. Since
you are in the Living Seas where many large windows look into an ocean
environment, this looks much like another such window. A host introduces
Crush (the sea turtle) from "Finding Nemo." Crush is an interactive
3D animation that talks with the audience. He looks at the person he's
talking with and really interacts with people. For example, the host
will ask a kid his name and Crush will say "Hello, Jimmy."
He makes jokes and takes questions from audience. The show lasts about
10 minutes and is very enjoyable. As word spreads about this show, it
will become very popular. I would guess that the theater holds about
100 people. I have never seen anything like this before. It's a really
nice addition to a tired pavilion.

Here's
what YOU have to say:

MAGPIE0218: This interactive show was fabulous. We had no idea
what we were in for when we happened on this attraction in the Living
Seas. We are annual Passholders who live outside Tampa and try to
hit Disney parks as often as we can. Our 8 year old twins still get
excited every time we enter a Disney park, but we worry if that enthusiasm
will wane with time. Our son, Logan was amazed and delighted when
Crush asked his name, talk to him, and answered his question about
turtle shells. Adults and children seemed to enjoy this wonderful
attraction equally. If this interactive show is any indication of
future plans, we will happily renew our annual passes for years to
come!

Robyn
Ward: My family and I (husband and two girls, ages 8 and 4) saw
Crush and Turtle Talk just last week. It is an interactive (and I
mean really good) discussion between Crush and the audience. My girls
enjoyed it very much, got to ask questions and even included me in
the fun. The only problem? Crush asked me where human babies come
from - I very quickly told him the hospital.

Darkzeid25:
I was at the Living Seas this week and did the Turtle talk. It was
really well done. The computer animated Crush talks in real time,
reacting to whoever he is talking to and what is going on. He has
an array of emotions that he expresses and even played "The hide
and The seek" with us. Another small attraction done extremely
well.

Jim:
We were one of the first groups to see this new attraction in Epcot's
Living Seas Pavilion during the week of November 7th. It was definitely
different than anything else we saw all week. It was in a very small
theater. There were about 60 people or so sitting in the theater on
benches and then a small area up front. The attraction's creators
were standing around the room with clip boards taking notes. The area
upfront was for kids to go up and sit down. It was in front of a movie
screen. The images on the screen made it seem like you were looking
through a glass window into an ocean scene with water, rocks the ocean
floor, etc. There was an image of a microphone on the side. The premise
is that Crush will come out and talk to and interact with everyone
in the theater. There was a CM that moderated everything on the theater
side, introduced the attraction and then got the crowd to call for
Crush. The CM had a mic in his hand and would go around the room with
it when Crush called on folks to ask a question.

So, we call for Crush and he comes out. He is a virtual reality movie
image that swims around on the screen, talks, makes expression and
reacts to the crowd. Basically the whole show is interactive he can
look into the audience and see what the crowd or kids are doing. He
asks questions and then the crowd (mostly the kids) ask him questions.
What made the attraction great was that he was absolutely hilarious
the way he interacted and using the virtual reality technology, how
he was able to move and react, make expressions etc. For example someone's
"shell phone" went off in the middle and he had several
one liners for the guy. It was really cute and had me laughing off
my seat. Duuuuude!! At the end the overwhelming rating from the crowd
was a 5 out of 5. Positive comments from the crowd included the interaction
especially with the kids and having the kids sitting upfront so Crush
could call on them and ask their name etc.

Jim
Humelsine: The Crush attraction totally rocks... dude. You're
seated on benches in a small theater that holds about 30-40 people.
The children sit on the floor up front. The front of the theater is
a screen that's about 8 feet high 15 feet wide. The screen shows an
underwater scene. There's a cast member who introduces Crush and helps
out during the show. Crush swims to the front and center of the screen
and starts talking to the audience interactively. He selects individual
people to talk to and identifies them by their location in the theater
and clothing they are wearing. He has short conversations with these
people. He moves to the left and right of the screen depending upon
whether he's talking to someone on the left or right. His facial expressions
change appropriately. It's kind of like a sophisticated puppet, but
he's on a movie screen instead. The voice is pretty much identical
to the voice used in the movie. When it was over, my wife asked, "OK,
how did they do that?" I'm still not sure myself.

Rodney:
We were lucky to get to preview Turtle Talk with Crush. We were told
that the room the preview was held in would not be the permanent home
for Crush (not sure where it will be). My kids (ages 6 and 2) absolutely
loved it. Being able to talk to Crush and getting response was great.
He was able to identify which child or adult was asking a question.
After the show we were asked to comment. Most comments were positive.
One comment was to have Squirt with Crush. Another was to have other
fish (characters from Nemo). Someone said not to say "Dude"
so many times.

Diane
Marmann: We had the opportunity to participate in Turtle Talk
with Crush. It was an enjoyable experience. Although I didn't know
what to expect, I was not prepared for Crush to be able to actually
see and hear the audience. In fact, neither were the kids, as they
were surprised when Crush actually described them (boy in front row
with red baseball cap) and spoke to them repeating their names and
having conversations with them. No one in our audience was prepared
to ask questions, so it was a little strained and Crush did a bit
of fun improv. I think that once the audience is more prepared and
knows what to expect, it will be a fun and enjoyable experience. I
enjoyed it and left with a big smile on my face.

Susan
Bilbrey: We actually got to experience the talk with Crush at
Epcot on Sunday, November 14. It was interactive and Crush picks kids
out of the audience and calls on them by what color their "shell"
(clothing) is and talks with them. Very much Disney magic! Very cute
and entertaining and the kids loved it.

Mindy
Geihs: It
was definitely one of the highlights of my trip! This isn't just an
animated, pre-programmed show -- Crush actually interacts with the
audience! Every show is different. A cast member brings a microphone
around the audience so questions can be asked of Crush. He answers
them and asks questions of the audience too. Crush can see the audience
as well and talks about what certain people are wearing. How this
attraction works is beyond me! The animation goes perfectly with what
Crush says and he's improvising! It was really fun and absolutely
amazing! I highly recommend it!